Interview: Stop Staring and Meet Dudley O’Shaughnessy.

Dudley O’Shaughnessy is a multi-talented man; boxing since the age of nine. Dudley began modeling at 19 and has recently signed up with an acting agency.

We first met Dudley sat at an east end bus stop in London, when our friend Sara nearly walked into a lamp post after locking eyes with this stunning model. We felt compelled to turn around and speak with him and what we found was a completely down to earth and sincere guy who was actually waiting for a bus with his mom.

A Londoner born and bred Dudley, now aged 21, hails from Canning Town, East London. He now lives in Hackney with his mom. Taking inspiration from his father and older brother, who both box, Dudley is a regular at West Hams Amateur Boxing Club where he has successfully worked is way up the ranks. He is now number one in England in his Welter Weight category, a tough challenge for a man with so many talents to spar with.

Spotted at Old Street station, London, he is represented by Next Model Management. Having already done shoots for the likes of Stone Island and Fred Perry, Dudley’s was a regular face on the catwalk at London Fashion Week. A definite one to watch, just don’t leave him alone with your packet of sweets…

Megan: Tell us about yourself

Dudley: My names Dudley O’Shaughnessy, from East London, born & bread. I’m a boxer, model & now an actor

Megan: How old were you when you started?

Dudley: I started boxing when I was 9, then when I was 19 I got scouted and became a model, then about a month ago I got with a acting agency. I dunno what’s next, maybe I’ll become a doctor hehe

Megan: How did you get into this business?

Dudley: I got into boxing through my family, my Dad was a boxer but stopped when he had me. We didn’t really have a lot of money when I was younger & growing up so unfortunately we couldn’t afford action men, so my action men used to be my dads boxers on top of the trophies he’d won. I always wanted some of my own after all my Dad’s ones arms, legs & heads were gone. I’ve got an older brother too who used to box, but you had to be 9 to start so every time he used to train I used to watch him and then by the time I was 9, all I wanted to do was box, so i was straight up the gym. With the modelling, I got scouted when I was with my mother in Old Street station wearing a big grey oversize tracksuit, I thought it was all a joke at first and wasn’t really interested. Castings were really nerve-racking so I didn’t really go, but then as time went on, I came out my shell, met some wicked friends who I’ll never forget and everything kind of fell into place & now I’m loving it. Acting is really recent I got referred by an actor who I had done a job with before & ended up getting with the same agency as him, so fingers crossed I’ll be on a screen near you soon!

Megan: Do you have a favorite shoot you’ve done?

Dudley: It’s gotta be stone island, it’s one of my dream campaigns, ever since I started modelling & saw the campaign I always had my eye on it.

Megan: What is your dream as a model?

Dudley: My first dream was to do stone island and I have so anything else I could do is a bonus, another campaign I dream of doing is Givenchy, it was just like the Stone island, as soon as I saw the campaign I just thought “ahhhhhhhhh” I wanna do that

Megan: How do modelling and boxing fit together in your life? -Have you had to make any sacrifices in one to further the other?

Dudley: It’s hard, but it’s taught me a lot, I used to kind of stand there and just have a fight, but then I used to come out of the ring looking like a rainbow, my skin marks up so easy! So as time went on my Dad helped me learn to move more and keep my hands up & hit and not be hit, so now I don’t really get that marked up. When I’m in a championship I concentrate less on the modelling and more on the boxing. So sometimes I have to miss out on shoots/castings to train, but it’s all worth it in the end. But i’ve decided to concentrate more on the modelling side of things lately as it’s going really well at the moment. But I still training & keep fit, boxing will be with me for the rest of my life, it’s made me who I am.

Megan: Where do you get inspirations for your style?

Dudley: I don’t really like to follow the crowd with my dress sense, hence when I had blonde hair most people were like “=O” But now everyone seems to have it, even Chris Brown! So I wont be dyeing it back in a hurry. My Mum helps me quite bit with my dress sense, I guess you could call her my stylist hah. At the moment I’m into military jackets, I like the whole vibe of wearing something smart, but then putting something completely different with it, I like mixing things up, being different and diverse, just like wearing stone island with Vivienne Westwood, totally mad, but it looks alright.

Megan: Do you have any favorite designer?

Dudley: I love the stone island designers, they’re jackets are amazing, as well the the shadow project who are joint with stone island, their clothes are like no other. I also like a lady who graduated from the Royal College of Art last year, I walked for her at the graduation show and her stuff caught my eye & blew mostly all the other graduates collections out the water. And now she’s at Givenchy with Ricardo Tisci, which is another favorite designer of mine, her name is Courtney McWilliams, watch out for her! Also keep your eye on Richard William Green, not only a wicked designer but a proper cool dude! Oh and of course not to forget Ozwald Boateng & Alexander McQueen.

Megan: Your best style advice?

Dudley: Don’t be a sheep and follow the crowd, take a risk

Megan: What kind of music do you listen to?

Dudley: Ahh there’s too much, depends which kind of mood I’m in really, but my top 3 are Reggae, Dubstep/grime & R&B/soul…a bit more than 3 but I tried

Megan: If you could choose any three things to get for free what would you choose?